News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-08-11
A MILE in ONE MINUTE.
THE FEARFUL RIDE OF A MINER
DOWN A LOG CHUTE.
He Sticks to His Horse and Shoots
Like Lightning Down the Noun
tain Side for Two Miles.

He Sticks to His Horse and Shoots
Like Lightning Down the Noun.
tain Side for Two Miles.
81 have made mile minute on horse
back in the saddle"
As griZzled stranger with a quartzite
| pin made this remark q silence fell upon
| the little group of turfmen who sat in
| the corridor of the Windsor Hotel, at
Denver, the other evening, says the Chi
cago Herald. The group drew closer,
and the stranger began:
| Il was riding tough little bronco on
my way to Leadvillc from a claim l
owned on the other side of the divide,
on the slope of what is called Gold
Mountain. | pushed rapidly ahead to-
| ward the pass. The road beyond the
| pass led down long, straight incline foI
! about quarter of mile. This took II
to the fringes of pine timber and then
it made detour of nearly two miles to
get around a spur of the range. Sud
denly my horse staggered, stumbled,
plunged a little, and then came down
with crash, first on his fore legs, and
then fiat on his belly, his head down hill.
can't readily describe it. but he fell in
such Il way that my right leg, without
being crushed or even much bruised, was
twisted in the stirrup strap and got fast
'Right here let me stop to explain a
little circumstance that will enable you
to understand the situation. Pown in
the valley, at the base of Gold Mountain,
was sawmill, and extending up from its
yard almost to timber line was what is
called log chute This is simply "
shaped trough, large enough to hold
good-sizcd pine trunk, and built solidly
against the face of the mountain. OF
course, it has to be straight, or nearly so.
to permit the logs to 5 ide down without
| obstruction, and use soon makes the in
| side as smooth as glass
Such cOntrivance saves great deal
of hauling, for as the trees are cut they
are dragged over and dumped into the
| trough, and 90 down to the ward like
streak of lightning. 1t had not been
used for about year, and pine needles.
| boughs, and other rubbish had in places
almost hidden it from sight. l was well
enough acquainted with the mountains
to know, the instant my bronco fell, that
he had walked into the old log chute
1T takes a moment for the coolest
head to clear itself in times of unlocked
for peril, and long before that moment
had elapsed the bronco and were on our
way to the valley, going faster at every
breath, nothing to stop us, death ahead,
and the DEVILS own railroad underneath.
l was sitting almost erect in the saddle.
The leather flaps had twisted around and
Kept my legs from rubbing against the
side of the trough, but held me like
bands of iron. Even had they not, Jump
ing off would have been out of the cues
tlon. have never been on toboggan,
but L think that people who have will
understand why l bent all my energies
to holding on. | did not faint and did
not get dizzy; there was a hideous roar
ing In my ears, furious wind seemed to
al OF sudden tear up the mountain and
suck the breath out of my mouth, but
everything was deadly clear and distinct
81 could see black specks grow sud
denly into big pines and then shoot past
me. could even see the snow caught
In the needles as they came whizzing
up. Every instant, through some clear
ing, could see the valley, in flash,
and over 1t all was sickening feeling,
as though the mountain was sinking
away from me and was plunging out
into immeasurable space. So strong was
this that even now, standing on the solid
marble floor, can recall the qualm and
nausea as all support seemed to give
away, the earth tip up and let me fall,
fall, fall-it felt as if forever. A mass
of rock as large as this hotel was beneath
me. As | looked it seemed to lean into
the air like bslloon. There was a black
line of forest below. shot through it as
through tunnel, and out into
the light again. l tried to shut
my eyes. 1t was impossible. | tried
to scream. The air had turned to stone.
"Thc trees and rocks were indis-
unguishablc, when all of sudden
black mass flew up into my face. | felt
that | was being beaten, bruised and
still again.
When the moon was well up came TO
myself. / was lying in a snowdrift, rub
bing at my head and moaning. After
long time ! crawled little way and then
fell down and cried for my very helpless
ness. | must have been little Tightly,
and heaven knows how / found my way
to Lacy's mill, aquarter of amile beyond,
but did some how, and they carried me
in and sent for help. You see, the old
timber chute had fallen into decay, and
some distance above the yard was
broken place and that saved my life.
When we reached it the dead bronco
jumped the trough and the two of us
went sailing and turning and cavorting
over field of fresh snow until we stuck
into a drift about five hundred yards
away.
1.-The bronco had the worst of it even
there for he kept on going until he
struck solid earth. ! broke three ribs
and this arm in so many different places
that the doctor wanted to cut it off and
be done with it. What puzzled the
mill men most was that my legs escaped,
but the saddle flaps were worn to fringe
and that explains it. From the point
where l started to the break was over
two miles, and the old hands there said
logs used to make it in less than two
had no stop-watch, but I'll
back myself against any log that ever
made the trip"